


he keeps me warm

by danhedonia



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Barista!Phil, M/M, Starbucks, dan is still a fanboy because lets be real, is there... a universe where he isn't, meet cute, not TOGETHER you know, they're both youtubers still but like, uni!dan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 19:22:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17229752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danhedonia/pseuds/danhedonia
Summary: prompt: au in 2011 where phil's a youtuber but he never noticed dan and he's working at a starbucks to be able to pay for his apartment. and dan is also a youtuber but not as big and he came to manchester for uni and goes to starbucks and phil's there. please make dan a fanboy!!





	he keeps me warm

**Author's Note:**

> This hasn't been beta'd or properly spelling/grammar checked because I'm lazy so I apologize for any spelling/grammar errors

It was a slow day, which Phil usually wouldn’t have minded, except he was bored out of his mind. Phil hadn’t even wanted this job. He only took it because he had to, because his YouTube channel hadn’t grown enough for him to afford living expenses on that alone, and days like this reminded him of how much he’d rather be sat in front of his camera. None of his coworkers that he genuinely liked were working and, since he was stationed at the register (or a backup for bar, if necessary, which is  _ definitely wasn’t _ ), Phil had absolutely nothing to do. Nobody had been up to the register for twenty minutes, the store was as clean as it could be midday, and all of their equipment was clean. Never in his life did Phil think he’d be wishing for something to clean, but he was a bit desperate for something to do other than stare at the door for what felt like an eternity.

It couldn’t have been eternity, though, because eventually the door opened and a vaguely familiar looking boy with brown hair and brown eyes stepped through. Phil put on his customer service smile and the peppiest voice he could. “Hi! Welcome to Starbucks. My name’s Phil. Can I get you anything?”

Those brown eyes got wide suddenly, and he looked like a deer caught in headlights. It was endearing, really, and Phil’s heart squeezed with sympathy at the concept of the mini-panic attack he assumed the customer was having over something as simple as ordering a coffee. “O-oh.” He said quietly, eyes trained directly on Phil’s face in a way that was almost enough to make him uncomfortable. “You’re- oh. Okay.”

Phil was a little confused, but gave a soft, kind smile. “Yeah. I’m Phil.” He repeated, unsure if he just hadn’t been heard before. “Can I get you anything?”

“Oh. Right. Just a caramel macchiato.”

“Alright. What size?”

“Grande.”

“Will that be all?”

“I think so.” A hand came up to nervously fix brown fringe. “I mean, um, yes. That’s all.”

“Can I get your name?”

“My what?” There was surprise in the boy’s voice, as if that was genuinely the last thing he’d expected to hear.

“Your name?” Phil said, raising an eyebrow. “For the order.”

“Oh! Right, yeah, the order.” Phil nearly laughed when the stranger’s voice broke and he paused to clear his throat. “My name is Dan.”

“Alright, then, Dan.” Phil smiled again, quickly ringing Dan up and giving him the change. “It’ll be ready in a few minutes. You can wait anywhere you’d like.”

Dan nodded. He walked away with red cheeks, seeming to try to hide in the hood of his grey, horned jacket. Phil couldn’t help giggle. 

“Looks like someone thinks you’re cute..”

Phil jumped at the voice so close to his ear, only relaxing when he turned around to see his friend PJ. “Christ Peej, you scared me.” He huffed softly and glared at PJ as he went about putting his apron on. “He did not. I think he was just nervous.”

PJ gave Phil a look that Phil didn’t quite understand. “Phil, you’re literally the blindest person I’ve ever met.” PJ quit speaking as Dan came backup to the counter, hastily grabbing his drink before practically bolting out the door. “See?  _ That  _ is not just nervous. That’s… dare I say lust?”

“Actually shut up.” Phil rolled his eyes again. “I have work to do. Go away.’

PJ looked around the store, which only had one person in it, and gave Phil another look. “Whatever you say, mate.”  
  
  


A few weeks later, Phil was working bar when he saw a familiar grey hoodie with little horns on it, and a few minutes later, Phil was holding a sticker for a grande caramel macchiato with the name ‘Dan’ on it. 

So, like anybody would, Phil slapped the sticker onto a venti cup.

“Caramel macchiato for Dan.” 

Moments later, Dan popped into view in front of the counter and Phil held the out the drink. 

Dan’s face twisted in confusion, glancing between Phil and the cup for a moment. “I ordered-”

Phil shushed him quietly, pushing the cup into his hand and winking. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”

Before Phil turned around, he saw Dan’s cheeks turn the same pretty shade of red they did the first time they met, and he spent the rest of his shift with a grin that he refused to explain to his coworkers.  
  
  


The next time Dan came into the store while Phil was working, Phil was at the register again. “Dan!” He said happily after the man in front of Dan moved away. “Another caramel macchiato or are you feeling like you wanna shake it up?”

Dan’s lips curled up into a soft smile. “I dunno. If I were to shake it up, what would you suggest?”

“I’m personally actually partial to caramel macchiatos, but white mochas are pretty good too, if you’ve got a sweet tooth.”

“Do you?” Dan asked, a twinkle in his eye that Phil was afraid to question. 

“Have a sweet tooth? Definitely. I’m one of those weirdos who can eat a whole bag of marshmallows on its own.”

“Duly noted.”

“What’ll it be, then?” Phil asked, because there was a line behind Dan and he couldn’t keep talking even though part of him really wanted to. 

“I’ll stick with my caramel macchiato for now.”  
  
  


It was dead again, and Phil wa working bar. He’d cleaned twice in the past two hours between the few drinks he’d had to make, just because he had nothing else to do, and he was on the verge of doing it again when the door opened and Dan walked in. He ordered another grande caramel macchiato, Phil made it in a venti cup again, and when Phil handed it to Dan, he gave a secretive wink.

“You really don’t have to do that, you know.”

“I know.”

Dan’s cheeks tinted a nice shade of pink and Phil’s heart felt warm. Dan had been coming into the store a lot more recently. Phil joked about it being because he knew that Phil would give him a venti instead of a grande, but the way Dan smiled when he said the joke made Phil almost certain that that wasn’t true. If Dan was coming for the coffee, he’d be smiling at his cup like that, not at Phil. At least, that’s what PJ had told him.

“What time do you get off?”

The question fell off of Dan’s tongue so quickly that Phil had trouble understanding it at first. “What?”

“Not in, like, a weird way, I just…” Dan bit his lip, glancing around nervously. There were only a few people in the store, and Dan seemed determined to make sure that none of them were staring before he continued. “Figured I should buy you a coffee. You know, to repay you for all the free upgrades you’ve given me.”

Phil’s lips twitched. “I actually get free coffee at the end of my shifts. It’s a perk.”

“Really? I might have to start working here.”

“That’s not even the best part. We get Spotify premium for free, too.” Phil grinned, tongue poking out between his teeth as he glanced at the clock. “I get off in thirty minutes.”

“Is that a yes?”

“I’ll bring you another macchiato, addict.”  
  
  


A little over thirty minutes later, Phil was walking toward Dan’s table with two macchiatos in his hands. “Here.” He set one down by Dan and then sat in the seat across from him.

It was weird, being with Dan like this. It felt somehow more intimate now that there wasn’t a bar between them - now that it wasn’t part of Phil’s job, but part of his free time. Part of his life instead of just his work.

“Oh, you were serious.” Dan let out a nervous laugh and wrapped his hands around the cup as if it was some sort of security blanket. “Thank you.”

“Of course.”

It was quiet for a few moments, verging on awkward.

“I have a confession.”

“What do you mean?” Phil’s hands were clammy suddenly, his heart racing. What sort of confession could Dan have to tell someone he saw a couple times a week at most, someone he’d only talked to for a maximum of twenty minutes at a time?

“I watch your YouTube videos.” Dan’s face was rapidly turning red.

‘Oh, God, I thought you were about to tell me you murdered someone or something.” Phil’s entire body relaxed and he let out a shaky breath. “Jesus. That’s so much better than what I was thinking. You could’ve opened with that. I feel like that’s not a good enough reason to use the word ‘confession’.”

“Yes it is!’ Dan squeaked, huffing. “It’s embarrassing!”

“How? You just found my videos, right? That’s not weird. It’s not like you’re a stalker or something.”

Dan’s face just got redder.

“Oh my god. Are you a stalker?”

“No! I mean, I don’t think so.” Dan huffed again and hid his face in his hands, sinking back into his chair. “I’ve been watching your videos for, like, four years. I knew you lived in Manchester, I just- I didn’t think I’d run into you. I didn’t think you’d work at the first bloody Starbucks I went to after coming here for uni.”

“You’ve been watching me for that long?” Phil’s voice was full of shock, and that was the only thing he could focus in on, honestly. Four years? That was almost as long as he’d been making videos, probably longer than he’d really considered YouTube a career.

“Well- yeah. I just felt like I had to tell you. I was - I mean, I  _ am  _ \- such a big fan of you. It felt weird talking to you without you knowing that. Like I was lying to you.”

“That’s… sweet.” Phil smiled softly, moving his foot forward to bump Dan’s leg. “I didn’t know anybody liked me that much.”

“Of course I do. You’re just so creative and cool and it’s like-” Dan seemed to have to force himself to shut up, head shaking a little. “Sorry. Yeah. I do, though, really. You’re the person who inspired me to start my channel, actually.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You replied to me on twitter two years ago. I replied to something you tweeted basically saying that I wished I could be a YouTuber like you and you told me to just do it, so… I did. I’m glad I did, too. I love it.”

“Wait, you have a channel too? What is it?”

Dan’s nose scrunched up a little. “Um.. it’s danisnotonfire. Cringey, I know.”

“I think it’s cool.” Phil smiled brightly, leaning into the table with excited eyes. “We should totally do some collab videos.”

“Really?” Dan’s entire body perked up. “You’d do that with me?”   


“Of course! I’ve given you enough free coffee that I thought that was clear.”

“What- what would we even do?”

Phil thought for a moment. “We could just do some simple q-and-a videos. Ask our followers to send stuff in and do one for each of our channels.”

“I liked that.” Dan smiled softly. “We have to have matching names of some sort.”

“Oh, definitely. What’s yours gonna be?”

Dan grinned. “Amazing Dan.”

Phil laughed. “Wow. Are you stealing my branding?”

“I wish I could be that cool.” Dan rolled his eyes, speaking again before Phil had the chance to interrupt. “What’s yours?’

Phil thought for a moment, The answer was so obvious, but when it came to him, his face must have lit up because suddenly Dan was leaning forward like the answer was the most important thing in the world. 

“Phil is not on fire.”

“So you’re stealing my brand now, too?” Dan laughed.

“It’s only fair."

“I guess so. I can’t complain, though. I get the sexy emo branding. You’re stuck with edgy jokes and llamas. Also placentas and sometimes Delia Smith.”

Phil laughed. “Okay, I’ve  _ got  _ to watch your videos.” His tongue found its way between his teeth again, and he didn’t miss the way Dan’s eyes tracked it. “I’m not mad about it, either. I don’t think a cute twink is the  _ worst  _ branding I could have.”

Dan choked on his coffee. “Right. Okay.” His cheeks were red and his voice was high. “I should, um… I should get going. I have school and stuff.”

Phil smirked as Dan shuffled out of his seat. 

“Alright, I guess. I’ll see you later, Danisnotonfire.”

Dan rolled his eyes, but his smile was fond. “Shut up. Bye, Phil.”

Once Dan was out of sight, Phil pulled his phone out and opened up twitter, searching for the user  _ danisnotonfire _ . He followed it immediately, then opened up a DM.

 

**_@amazingphil:_ ** _ awrf _

**_@amazingphil:_ ** _ hi dan ^-^ _

**_@amazingphil:_ ** _ i knew you looked familiar. i’ve seen this icon like a bajillion times xD _

 

He locked his phone and stood up to gather his things. He was barely out the door when his phone pinged a few times. It was  twitter notifications. 

 

**_@danisnotonfire:_ ** _ time to jump off a building _

**_@danisnotonfire:_ ** _ i knew i should’ve kept my fanboying to myself _

**_@danisnotonfire:_ ** _ in my defense i thought you’d only notice me if i tweeted you every five minutes _

**_@danisnotonfire:_ ** _ how was i supposed to know you would notice me at fucking starbucks of all places xD _

 

Phil laughed, waiting a moment to decide what to reply.

 

**_@amazingphil:_ ** _ honestly i’m surprised it took me this long _

**_@amazingphil:_ ** _ maybe i was destined to meet you and that’s why the universe shoved you into my starbucks :3 _

**_@amazingphil:_ ** _ but honestly it was just a matter of time. I’d notice someone as pretty as you anywhere. _

 

Phil shoved his phone in his pocket, pretending the redness in his cheeks was from the cold as he started walking away from his Starbucks - well, it was  _ their  _ Starbucks now, really, wasn’t it?

It was true, though. Something about Dan made Phil sure they were destined to meet, they were destined to make videos together, destined to be friends and maybe something more.

It had been a while since Phil felt this way. He loved making videos, but he hadn’t felt hopeful about it in so long, but the idea of making videos with Dan had Phil itching to get in front of a camera right now with the pretty brown-haired boy who’d accidentally found Phil right by his side. It was exhilarating in ways Phil couldn’t really understand. 

They’d create something  _ amazing  _ together. Phil just knew it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it <3
> 
> The title is from 'She Keeps Me Warm' by Mary Lambert. It has nothing to do with the story tbh but Mary's gay, the song is gay, the music video is gay, and this story is gay, so. It works, I guess? It also helps that the music video is about coffee shop lesbians.


End file.
